MOUNTAIN BIKING IN OSSOLA VALLEY
Each Ossola valley allows you to climb and descend on ancient roads or single grass tracks. The huge variety of routes will satisfy sports people looking for challenging experiences or beginners who want to have a go at this discipline in contact with nature for the first time!
In this section, thanks to the collaboration of Luca and Loris Bonavia, we recommend some of the most beautiful routes to discover the Ossola valleys on two wheels. If you’d like more information, we recommend the paper guidebook, “Mountain bike in Valdossola” published by Grossi.
TOCE CYCLE TRACK
The Toce Cycle Track offers a fascinating, continuous route along the Toce River, from the centre of Domodossola to Verbania-Fondotoce, near the nature reserve of the same name. The cycle track can be used all year round, the level of difficulty is almost always suitable for untrained cyclists and allows you to admire some of the villages, the landscapes and the best views of the entire Ossola Valley plain.
The Toce Cycle Track is part of cycle route 15 “Svizzera Mare” (Switzerland to the Sea) in the Bicitalia network. The Piedmont Region has designated it as “route of regional interest” linking Locarno, on the Swiss border of Lake Maggiore, to Ventimiglia.
The Toce Cycle Track can be completed in its entirety or by following one of the four thematic itineraries (Toce Cycle Track: cycling among flowers, among villages, among waterways, among woodland) shown in the different tabs of this website, where updated .kml tracks for Google Earth are also published and can be downloaded directly.
DOWNHILL IN OSSOLA VALLEY
Several routes have been developed in Ossola Valley for downhill biking, a practice that is now very widespread in the mountains of Ossola, an ideal environment in which to create adrenalin-filled trails.
Downhill is the perfect discipline for lovers of sports adventure thanks to routes with significant height differences and medium lengths, on very steep slopes and with natural or artificial obstacles.
In Ossola Valley there are two places that focus more and more on the development of downhill: Piana di Vigezzo and San Domenico di Varzo, in Divedro Valley.
Piana di Vigezzo has plans for new routes and the implementation of routes and slopes with excellent height differences, up to 1000 metres (328 ft). Updates are available on the official website of the alpine station, which is equipped with a modern cable car to help you get up the mountain, even in summer. Mountain bikes and e-bikes are available to hire at the top and bottom of the lifts.
In San Domenico di Varzo, famous for its Sando Bike Park with routes built in the last few years, some tracks are perfectly suited for downhill. The panoramic high altitude of San Domenico and Alpe Ciamporino, which now has over 100 km (62 miles) of natural trails for mountain biking, is constantly evolving with new tracks and new routes.
